Balfour Brickner

Balfour Brickner

Rabbi, Activist, Interfaith Leader

Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections

2015

Moshe Kornfield, Scott Meyer, Elias Sacks, Stephanie Yuhas, Andrew Violet, Jane Thaler

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for educational uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Portable Document Format

English

Balfour Brickner (1926 - 2005) was a rabbi and activist for more than half a century. Born in Cleveland, Brickner graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1948 and received ordination from Hebrew Union College in 1952. Brickner then served as the founding rabbi of Temple Sinai in Washington, D.C. before moving to New York to lead the Reform movement’s National Commission on Social Action (1961). In 1980, Brickner brought his vision of liberal Judaism to the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. Brickner was an activist throughout his career. He took part in the civil rights struggle and the Vietnam antiwar movement. He was also a founder of Religious Leaders for a Free Choice, a New York group supporting abortion rights. As the founder of the Reform movement’s national Commission on Inter-Religious Affairs, he worked to strengthen Christian-Jewish relations. Brickner wrote on a variety of topics ranging from religious philosophy to the plight of Palestinian refugees. His last book, Finding God in the Garden: Backyard Reflections on Life, Love, and Compost, was published in 2003. Balfour Brickner RABBI ACTIVIST INTERFAITH LEADER